Chapter Ten
While Luca slept, Nox drove for several hours, taking back roads and winding pig trails. The thin clumps of trees edging the blacktop thickened into dense forests. He passed a sign that readCamp Grounds Closed. Another half mile in the road forked. The gravel path on the left had two short telephone poles on each side with a chain stretched across. A second sign hanging from the middle readCabins Closed.
A padlock secured the metal links.
Nox got out of the van. Deer tracks stamped the fresh mud of the road with older animal tracks blurred by rain.
Tufts of grass. Sticks. No vehicle tracks.
A cabin wasn’t a motel, but it was more than the back of a drafty van.
Nox lifted the lock. Black threads covered his free hand. Claws formed. He flicked his talon across the shank where it engaged the latch. The smooth cut would make it easy to conceal the break.
He undid the chain and moved it out of the way, then returned to the van. Once he’d moved the vehicle inside, he went back out, wrapped the loose end of the chain around the post, and slid the lock through the links. Unless someone got close enough, they shouldn’t notice.
Nox left the headlights off as he drove. The warm orange sunset broke through clouds on the horizon, reflecting across a lake on the right. Deer trotted across the road. Nox eased the van over the dips and crevices left behind by water cutting through the gravel.
The van crossed a wide rut, dipping the front of the van hard. Luca sat up.
“Sorry, road’s kinda rough.”
The van bottomed out again. “I think rough is an understatement.” Luca grunted. “Where are we?”
“State park.”
“And where are we going?”
“There should be some cabins up ahead.”
The rear of the van slid sideways. Nox turned the wheel. The tires caught traction, and they lurched forward. Luca grabbed on to the passenger door. “Thank god, I didn’t eat, I’d be puking.”
Nox laughed.
They passed under a canopy of trees edging the road leaving behind the worst of the potholes. Another mile in, rustic log houses sprinkled the clear spaces in the woods. Nox picked one situated as far from the road as possible. He stopped and turned off the ignition.
Shutters covered the cabin windows. A padlock secured the door. The stacked log structure didn’t promise much in the way of insulation. There was a chimney, but smoke from a fire would put them at the risk of being spotted by forestry.
“I hope it at least has indoor plumbing.” Luca popped the handle on his door.
Nox stopped him from opening it. “Wait here while I do a walk-through.”
“Why?”
“Bears. They could have made a den in the crawl space or gotten inside.”
Luca widened his eyes. “Okay.”
Nox got out and approached the cabin, stopping at the sagging stoop.
A breeze kissed the skin on the back of his neck. He lifted his chin and inhaled: earth, rain, fresh growth, tree sap. He made a circle around the building. More scents flooded his lungs with every breath. The musk of opossums, raccoons, squirrels, field mice, snakes. Under him, the ground vibrated with insects. Above an owl shifted on its perch.
The thump of Luca’s heartbeat played against the air. His pulse a lullaby soothing the tension across Nox’s shoulders. He finished his walk around the cabin checking for damage that would make staying in it more uncomfortable than it was already going to be.
Nox tested the padlock on the door. The screws holding the hasp to the doorframe jiggled. He pulled, and they came loose. He plucked them from the holes and set them aside.
Nox returned to the van and opened the side door. “It’s safe.”
Luca eased out a breath.